Technical Architect

Company Overview

Xoserve is the Central Data Service Provider, that sits at the heart of Britain’s complex gas market as a specialised contract management and assurance company. Xoserve maintains accountability for the delivery of the Data Services Contract for the industry, which is delivered by a key outsourced service provider.

About the job

The Technical Architect is responsible for designing and implementing robust, scalable and high-performing infrastructure architectures that support the organisation’s current and future Central Data Service Provider (CDSP) activities. This role plays a critical part in ensuring solutions align with business objectives while addressing the demands of processing large volumes of data through data-intensive systems.

The successful candidate will leverage TOGAF (The Open Group Architecture Framework) to develop a structured and cohesive approach to infrastructure design, focussing on scalability, performance optimisation and resilience. A solid understanding of cloud technologies and large-scale data processing is essential.

Role Accountabilities

• Infrastructure Architecture Design: Design and develop comprehensive, scalable and secure infrastructure architectures that support the organisation’s business objectives and data processing requirements.
• TOGAF Implementation: Utilise TOGAF principles and methodologies to create standardised infrastructure frameworks that align with the broader enterprise architecture strategy.
• Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity: Develop and implement disaster recovery and business continuity plans to ensure data and system availability in the event of failures or disasters.
• Cloud and Hybrid Infrastructure Design: Architect and implement cloud and hybrid solutions that maximize performance, reduce costs, and support flexible scaling.
• Continuous Improvement: Monitor and evaluate the performance of infrastructure systems, identifying opportunities for improvement in efficiency, reliability, and cost.
• Large Data Processing Expertise: Provide knowledge and expertise in large-scale data processing environments to design and implement infrastructure capable of supporting data-intensive applications, analytics and the processing of complex workflows.
• Collaboration with Stakeholders: Collaborate with business leaders, other architects (business, application, and technical) and third-party vendors to understand application and data requirements, ensuring infrastructure solutions meet both the current and future needs of the organisation.
• Scalability and Performance Optimisation: Design infrastructure solutions that can handle large data volumes and scale seamlessly to accommodate spikes in demand ensuring high availability, performance and resilience.
• Governance and Compliance: Establish an infrastructure management governance structure to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements, industry standards, security requirements and data privacy regulations.
• Documentation and Communication: Create and maintain detailed technical architecture documentation and artefacts, providing a contemporary holistic view of the infrastructure landscape. Communicate architectural collateral and subsequent strategies effectively to both technical teams and stakeholders.
• Emerging Technology Awareness: Evaluate emerging infrastructure technologies, tools and frameworks to determine their applicability to the organisation’s BAU activity and strategic needs.

Specialist/Technical Expertise

• Proven extensive experience in technical architecture, infrastructure design or enterprise architecture.
• Strong understanding of TOGAF and its application in technical architecture.
• In-depth knowledge of large-scale data processing systems and high-volume data management.
• Proficiency in networking, virtualization and storage technologies.
• Hands-on experience with cloud platforms and cloud-native infrastructure (e.g. serverless, containerization and microservices).
• Familiarity with DevOps practices, including CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure as code (e.g. Terraform, CloudFormation) and automation tools.
• Knowledge of security best practices, identity management and compliance frameworks.
• Experience with performance monitoring, tuning and capacity planning.
• Proficiency in the use of Visio or Miro.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management abilities.
• Ability to simplify a problem or solution, especially regarding communication.
• Ability to work collaboratively across diverse teams and influence decision-making.
• TOGAF certification is highly desired.
• Experience in data-intensive industries such as online retail, finance, healthcare, telecommunications or cloud service providers is preferred.
• Familiarity with big data platforms (e.g. Hadoop, Spark) and data lake architectures is preferred.
• Familiarity with additional enterprise architecture frameworks or methodologies (e.g. Zachman, ArchiMate) and IT service management frameworks (e.g. ITIL) is preferred.
• Previous roles within industries such as utilities, finance, insurance, telecommunications or other sectors with significant data processing needs is also preferred.

What we offer:

• A competitive annual salary between £55,000 and £60,000 (may vary based on skills and experience)
• Discretionary individual bonus up to 10%
• Generous Pension Scheme – up to 12% employer contribution
• Generous Life Assurance provision – 4 x basic salary
• 28 days annual leave plus 8 statutory days in addition
• Income protection for employee after 12 months service
• Enhanced annual leave entitlement, with opportunity to buy additional holiday each year
• Enhanced family friendly policies
• Commitment to provide learning & development opportunities
• Access to contributory Private Medical Insurance for employee and family (Bupa)
• Health cashback plan for employee plus up to four dependent children (Medicash)
• 24/7 virtual GP plus remote access to Physiotherapy, Mental Health Support and Medical Second Opinion (Help@Hand)
• Electric Vehicle Salary Sacrifice Scheme (Octopus EV)
• Free confidential Employee Assistance Programme (LifeWorks)
• A wide range of wellbeing initiatives
• Fantastic range of discounts on high street retailers, grocery stores, cinema tickets, holidays and more
• Volunteering hours for our local communities
• Financial support to help cover the cost of one annual professional membership subscription
• Hybrid working from our Solihull office with frequent days in the office expected

The Energy Industry is about to reform and change at pace, and it needs people like you to come and be part of its new design.

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of colour are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Xoserve, we are committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace for everyone. So, if you’re excited about this role but your experience or qualifications don’t match the job description exactly, we encourage you to apply anyway. You might just be the right person for our growing business in this role or another one.

Xoserve is an equal employment opportunity employer. We adhere to a policy of making employment decisions without regard to race, ancestry, place of origin, creed, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, record of offences, marital status, family status or disability. We promise that your opportunity for employment with us depends solely on your qualifications.

If you are interested and consider you have the right skills and experience, please apply direct on LinkedIn or email your CV to people@xoserve.com. The closing date for applications is Friday 28 February 2025. We encourage candidates to submit their applications as early as possible and not to wait until the published closing date. Xoserve’s recruitment periods can and may vary. We reserve the right to remove this advert or close it to further applications at any point during the recruitment process.